1
00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:13,570
Take a deep breath.

2
00:00:14,217 --> 00:00:16,417
Yes, right now.

3
00:00:16,417 --> 00:00:18,177
Come up from the back of your seat.

4
00:00:18,177 --> 00:00:23,027
Sit up straight and take
a big inhale, fill all the way up,

5
00:00:23,027 --> 00:00:24,597
and then exhale.

6
00:00:24,972 --> 00:00:28,882
Deep breath in and exhale all the way out.

7
00:00:28,882 --> 00:00:32,332
Now, do you feel like you get
a little bit taller on the inhale?

8
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Yeah?

9
00:00:33,072 --> 00:00:34,972
How you get taller and stretch upwards

10
00:00:34,972 --> 00:00:36,812
and on the exhale sort of settle down?

11
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Because I'm seeing it.

12
00:00:38,562 --> 00:00:42,563
Well, if you do, you're what I call
"a vertical breather."

13
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And unfortunately, it's an anatomically
incongruous way to breathe,

14
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meaning that you're breathing
out of sync with your body.

15
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However, nine out of ten people
breathe this way.

16
00:00:56,183 --> 00:00:59,053
So, here's what happens
when you breathe vertically.

17
00:00:59,053 --> 00:01:03,523
First thing that happens is that you
overuse your neck and shoulder muscles.

18
00:01:03,523 --> 00:01:07,743
You see, your neck and shoulder muscles
were never meant to be breathing muscles.

19
00:01:07,743 --> 00:01:09,813
So, even though it's a small movement,

20
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you're doing it thousands of times a day,

21
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millions of times a year, year after year.

22
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So, if you have neck and shoulder pain -

23
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just a little, right -

24
00:01:21,233 --> 00:01:24,133
you can blame the car,
you can blame the computer,

25
00:01:24,133 --> 00:01:27,393
but first and foremost
blame your breathing.

26
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Second thing is that you're only using
the top part of your lungs.

27
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Where's the biggest,
most oxygen-rich part of your lungs?

28
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Right down here.

29
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Take your hands. Put them there.

30
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There we go. Right down here.
The biggest, densest part of your lungs.

31
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Do you use these
when you breathe vertically?

32
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No.

33
00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:50,860
So, you actually have to take
several smaller breaths,

34
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that is breathe faster
to get the air that you need.

35
00:01:54,999 --> 00:01:58,419
Now, here's what's most fascinating
for me as a psychologist:

36
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the vagus nerve is a nerve
that goes to the back of your head

37
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and goes throughout your whole body.

38
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"Vagus" means "wanderer" in Latin.

39
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And it does; it wanders
throughout your whole body,

40
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picking up signals
to tell your brain how to feel.

41
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Now, when you're breathing vertically,

42
00:02:14,721 --> 00:02:17,901
the vagus nerve automatically

43
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puts you into a stressed out
fight-or-flight mode.

44
00:02:21,681 --> 00:02:24,491
And it doesn't matter what's going on
in your surroundings -

45
00:02:24,491 --> 00:02:26,731
they could be perfectly mundane routine -

46
00:02:26,731 --> 00:02:29,501
you're going to be in a fight-or-flight.

47
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So, this connection to stress
is what got me interested in the breath.

48
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I woke up one fall several years ago
with a dull, throbbing pain in my jaw.

49
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And I found myself
at the dentist's office,

50
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hearing those five words
you never want to hear,

51
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"Do you have dental insurance?"

52
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(Laughter)

53
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I didn't.

54
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And being a compulsive type A,
I wasn't just grinding my teeth;

55
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I was pulverizing them.

56
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So, thousands of dollars later,

57
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I came to the conclusion
that I was not controlling my stress;

58
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it was controlling me.

59
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It was time for a change.

60
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I started by signing up for a yoga class,

61
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where we would do breathing exercises
at the beginning of class.

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I heard words like kapalabhati, ujjayi.

63
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We would breathe
through one nostril, then the other;

64
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we would do breath holds.

65
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I was intrigued. I dove in headfirst.

66
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I took every class I could find,
read every book,

67
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studied every academic article.

68
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I found myself in classes
with gong baths and chakra balancing.

69
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I read articles about cellular respiration
and rates of oxygen exchange.

70
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I studied breathing in birthing,

71
00:03:42,538 --> 00:03:46,788
freediving, singing, and martial arts.

72
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What was most alarming to me
was when I looked around,

73
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almost everyone I knew
wasn't breathing correctly.

74
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And I knew - the medical research said -

75
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that breath affects your sleep, your back,

76
00:04:02,088 --> 00:04:06,518
your digestion, your memory, anxiety;

77
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all these different things.

78
00:04:08,058 --> 00:04:12,238
It affects parts of our body
that you'd never even consider,

79
00:04:12,238 --> 00:04:15,638
like esophagus and your pelvic floor.

80
00:04:15,638 --> 00:04:18,298
It wreaks havoc
throughout your whole body.

81
00:04:18,298 --> 00:04:23,428
It affects your immune system,
your adrenal glands, acidity.

82
00:04:24,754 --> 00:04:29,604
So, I formalized what I was learning
into a method and started teaching.

83
00:04:29,604 --> 00:04:32,944
Now, who do you think
were the first people that called me?

84
00:04:33,780 --> 00:04:36,250
Was it members of the wellness community?

85
00:04:36,250 --> 00:04:37,880
Was it New-Age folks?

86
00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:39,060
Uh-uh.

87
00:04:39,667 --> 00:04:42,127
SWAT, Homeland Security,

88
00:04:42,127 --> 00:04:44,737
DEA, Border Patrol,

89
00:04:44,737 --> 00:04:47,067
Military and Law Enforcement.

90
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We know the importance of the breath.

91
00:04:51,919 --> 00:04:56,519
Ancient yogis say we come into this world
with a certain number of breaths,

92
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and we can take them quickly
and live a short lifespan,

93
00:04:59,909 --> 00:05:04,959
or we can take them deeply and slowly
and live a long lifespan.

94
00:05:04,959 --> 00:05:07,439
4,000 years later, fast forward,

95
00:05:07,439 --> 00:05:10,989
the Framingham study found that breathing

96
00:05:10,989 --> 00:05:16,019
is predictive of longevity
in a quantitative way,

97
00:05:16,019 --> 00:05:17,619
longevity and health.

98
00:05:19,947 --> 00:05:21,657
So, I know what you're thinking.

99
00:05:22,483 --> 00:05:25,043
"I'm breathing wrong? How could this be?"

100
00:05:26,049 --> 00:05:28,039
Well, relax, it's not all your fault.

101
00:05:28,039 --> 00:05:32,039
Sometime between the ages of five and ten,
your breathing changes

102
00:05:32,039 --> 00:05:35,389
from a lower-body breath
to an upper-body breath.

103
00:05:35,389 --> 00:05:37,759
And it happens because of several things.

104
00:05:37,759 --> 00:05:42,755
Number one is that you go to school
and you start sitting a lot.

105
00:05:42,755 --> 00:05:45,965
And sitting affects your posture,
which affects your breath.

106
00:05:46,966 --> 00:05:50,206
You go to the doctor;
the stethoscope goes here.

107
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They say, "Take a deep breath,"

108
00:05:52,541 --> 00:05:56,001
and you think, "Hm, my lungs
must be up here."

109
00:05:57,867 --> 00:06:01,247
Someone pokes you in the belly
and calls you fatty,

110
00:06:02,574 --> 00:06:07,404
and hence starts years,
even decades of gut sucking.

111
00:06:07,404 --> 00:06:10,784
So even now, as an adult,
you're sucking it in

112
00:06:10,784 --> 00:06:13,504
because you're thinking
it makes you look thinner,

113
00:06:13,504 --> 00:06:16,464
because it's an emotional
response to fear,

114
00:06:16,464 --> 00:06:18,284
because it's a bracing stance

115
00:06:18,284 --> 00:06:21,764
that helps you feel prepared
to run or to strike.

116
00:06:22,454 --> 00:06:24,734
Because you believe the myth

117
00:06:24,734 --> 00:06:27,594
that tensing your abs
makes your core stronger.

118
00:06:28,008 --> 00:06:31,088
But the breath has no choice
but to rise to the top of your body,

119
00:06:31,088 --> 00:06:34,048
become vertical, and stay there.

120
00:06:35,324 --> 00:06:36,754
So, what should you do?

121
00:06:37,771 --> 00:06:42,841
Look no further than your toddler,
your dog, your cat, even your fish.

122
00:06:43,256 --> 00:06:48,856
They breathe expanding and contracting
in the middle, using the diaphragm.

123
00:06:49,268 --> 00:06:52,008
Now, much of the confusion
around breathing occurs

124
00:06:52,008 --> 00:06:54,298
because we don't really
understand the diaphragm.

125
00:06:54,298 --> 00:06:56,038
It's a muscle deep inside;

126
00:06:56,038 --> 00:06:59,268
it's depicted as this little red line
that crosses the body,

127
00:06:59,268 --> 00:07:03,268
when actually it's much more
like the Starship Enterprise,

128
00:07:03,268 --> 00:07:06,158
this enormous muscle
in the very middle of your body,

129
00:07:06,158 --> 00:07:09,528
separating your thoracic cavity
from your digestive organs.

130
00:07:09,528 --> 00:07:14,018
And the only reason it was put there
was to help you breathe,

131
00:07:14,018 --> 00:07:15,298
if you let it.

132
00:07:15,650 --> 00:07:17,690
So, let's get intimate with the diaphragm.

133
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Right now, really. Take your fingers.

134
00:07:19,450 --> 00:07:21,710
Put them right here,
at your sternum. Okay?

135
00:07:21,710 --> 00:07:24,020
Walk them around the bottom of your ribs.

136
00:07:24,020 --> 00:07:26,270
Go! Keep walking. There we go.

137
00:07:26,270 --> 00:07:31,770
Now, your ribs are attached
to your sternum like handles on a pail.

138
00:07:32,461 --> 00:07:37,301
On the inhale, they're meant
to move out horizontally,

139
00:07:37,749 --> 00:07:41,119
and on the exhale,
they narrow with your body.

140
00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:45,660
What a beautiful machine the body is.

141
00:07:47,324 --> 00:07:52,184
But maybe it's time that we revisit
this cornerstone of our health,

142
00:07:52,742 --> 00:07:58,112
especially now when the narrow screens
of the computer or handhelds

143
00:07:58,818 --> 00:08:02,818
result in us sipping in
tiny amounts of air;

144
00:08:02,818 --> 00:08:07,528
little inhales and little exhales
or sometimes none at all.

145
00:08:08,290 --> 00:08:09,610
Alright, let's fix this.

146
00:08:09,841 --> 00:08:11,561
Come up from the back of your seat.

147
00:08:11,561 --> 00:08:12,271
Come on up.

148
00:08:12,271 --> 00:08:14,451
Scooch up to the front
of your chair. Alright.

149
00:08:14,451 --> 00:08:16,341
We're going to do a breathing exercise.

150
00:08:16,341 --> 00:08:18,141
This is called Rock and Roll.

151
00:08:18,141 --> 00:08:20,251
You're going to put
your hands on your belly.

152
00:08:20,251 --> 00:08:22,501
We're going to do the exaggerated version

153
00:08:22,501 --> 00:08:25,891
until your diaphragm starts to kick in,
starts to get engaged.

154
00:08:26,205 --> 00:08:28,225
So, you might get
a little bit lightheaded.

155
00:08:28,225 --> 00:08:29,125
Enjoy it. Alright?

156
00:08:29,125 --> 00:08:29,885
(Laughter)

157
00:08:29,885 --> 00:08:32,925
So, I want you to tip forward,
inhale, let your belly go. Ready?

158
00:08:32,925 --> 00:08:38,255
Tip forward, inhale, let it go, expand,
exhale, squeeze, round your back.

159
00:08:38,255 --> 00:08:40,675
Belly button gets closer to your spine.

160
00:08:40,675 --> 00:08:41,845
Use your abs.

161
00:08:41,845 --> 00:08:44,625
Inhale, tip forward, let your belly go.

162
00:08:44,625 --> 00:08:45,655
Expand it.

163
00:08:45,655 --> 00:08:48,035
Exhale, squeeze; get all that air out.

164
00:08:48,035 --> 00:08:50,715
Round your shoulders;
they have nothing to do with this.

165
00:08:50,715 --> 00:08:55,265
Big inhale, expand. Exhale, squeeze.

166
00:08:55,265 --> 00:08:58,005
Forwards and back.

167
00:08:58,005 --> 00:09:00,445
You're now breathing horizontally.

168
00:09:00,445 --> 00:09:02,375
We're going to do a breathing exercise.

169
00:09:02,375 --> 00:09:05,235
It's a Counting Breath.
It comes from the military.

170
00:09:05,235 --> 00:09:08,255
It's my favorite one.
It's called Tactical Breath.

171
00:09:08,255 --> 00:09:11,745
So, you're going
to inhale for four, hold for four,

172
00:09:11,745 --> 00:09:13,335
exhale for six, hold for two.

173
00:09:13,335 --> 00:09:15,985
We're going to do it together.
Ready? Okay.

174
00:09:15,985 --> 00:09:19,245
Inhale - two, three, four -

175
00:09:19,245 --> 00:09:21,845
hold - two, three, four -

176
00:09:21,845 --> 00:09:26,205
exhale - two, three, four, five, six -

177
00:09:26,205 --> 00:09:27,485
hold - two.

178
00:09:27,485 --> 00:09:30,285
Inhale - two, three, four -

179
00:09:30,285 --> 00:09:32,975
hold - two, three, four -

180
00:09:32,975 --> 00:09:37,105
exhale - two, three, four, five, six -

181
00:09:37,105 --> 00:09:38,475
hold - two.

182
00:09:38,475 --> 00:09:41,775
Inhale - two, three, four -

183
00:09:41,775 --> 00:09:44,965
hold - two, three, four -

184
00:09:44,965 --> 00:09:49,825
exhale - two, three, four, five, six -

185
00:09:49,825 --> 00:09:51,095
hold - two.

186
00:09:51,095 --> 00:09:54,735
Close your eyes - two, three, four -

187
00:09:54,735 --> 00:09:58,045
hold - two, three, four -

188
00:09:58,045 --> 00:10:03,265
exhale - two, three, four, five, six -

189
00:10:03,265 --> 00:10:04,605
hold - two.

190
00:10:04,605 --> 00:10:05,535
Tip forward.

191
00:10:05,535 --> 00:10:09,535
Inhale and continue on your own

192
00:10:09,535 --> 00:10:16,425
with a beautiful, anatomically congruous
lower-body horizontal breath.

193
00:10:16,823 --> 00:10:17,753
Thank you.

194
00:10:17,753 --> 00:10:19,643
(Applause)